“Oh. Hmm hmm hmm,” he hums as he zips open his bag and gets out what looks like two tickets of, hold on, I think I know that! “No way. No way! Are those...”

“Yeah.” He nods with a swagger. “Yes, they are. Tickets to Franco’s concert. I got them–Billy, you’re choking me!”

The story of Mark and Billy continues, but the inevitable talk gets delayed. Took me a bit longer to get this next part out but I already have a plan. Enjoy! -- Nina W

The sun is out in full force. It wants to eat meeee!!! Haha, good thing I put on tons of sunblock before I left. I raise my sunblocked arm in rebellion, taunting the afternoon sun. “Hah!” I shout. As if it cares. Setting down my gear, I see some of my friends already doing some warmups and practice drills. “Hey Mandy!” I shout at her. She runs towards me and gives me a hug. See what a ladies’ man I am? Oh, are those new? “Ooh, new shoes?” I ask her. “Pretty...”

“Thanks. Bought them on a sale, you know.” She shrugs. “Wanna borrow it?”

“Ummm, noooooo.” She’s crazy! I mean, it’s a lovely shade of magenta, but... “Anyway, what’s the plan?”

“Oh, you know, just the usual. You should play striker today. Todd’s not coming.”

“That’s too bad. No acrobatic entertainment.”

“Haha yeah, he does do those funny moves. So we got four guys, Mandy, Jane, you, and--oh speaking of, here he is.” She waves at someone behind me, so naturally I take a look. Oh my god! Wait, did I just shriek? No, that was just an utterance. An utterance, I say!

“M-mark! You, wha-, I, er, uh, sorry about, hey I didn’t know you were coming.” Good save there. Do I say sorry? Do I do my meek-face? What to do? I know, just pretend nothing happened.

"Well I wasn't really planning to, but since I don't have Saturday class anymore and Mandy has been pestering me to join, well, here I am."

“Oh, so you two know each other?” Mandy says from behind.

“Of course we do!” Mark and I shout together.

We look at each other and burst out laughing. Whew, saved by the laughter.

“We’ve known each other since we were little,” says Mark. “Well.” He glances sideways at me, grins, and puts his hand on my head to show the height difference. “He is still little.”

“Hey, no fair!” I stomp my foot as I slap his arm. He laughs as I do this, making me slap him some more. I’m gonna catch up...sometime. Mark is nearing 6 foot 2 while I’m a pathetic 5. I’ve always been small. “It’s just a slow and steady growth. Anyway, his parents and mine are friends, and we grew up in the same neighborhood.”

“We were pretty much inseparable, doing everything together–”

“Well, not everything!” I blurt out, blushing as I say it. Why am I blushing? “So, umm, what’s the plan?”

Mandy raises an eyebrow at me but lets her curiosity slide...for now. Oh man. She smiles in a sinister way, like she knows something but doesn’t want to tell me. “Well, lemme introduce Mark to the others first since it’s his first time here. Then we can do our warmups and start soon.”

We play until sundown. I don’t get any goals in but our team still wins by a margin of one point. Ooooh, my aching muscles. After a bit of rest, we drag ourselves over to Chow King, our favorite place to eat after a game. We quickly settle our seats and order food. While waiting for my chicken fried rice I find a seat to relax in, all the while apprehensive about talking to Mark about, um, things.

After ordering, Mark sets his bag down and sits down across from me, not saying a word.

I bite my lip as I bow my head. “Look, about earlier, you see, I um, I’m really sorry for shouting at you. I don’t know what came over–” I look back up at Mark just to see him with a half grin half smirk on his face. “What in the world are you smiling about?”

“Oh. Hmm hmm hmm,” he hums as he zips open his bag and gets out what looks like two tickets of, hold on, I think I know that! “No way. No way! Are those...”

“Yeah.” He nods with a swagger. “Yes, they are. Tickets to Franco’s concert. I got them–Billy, you’re choking me!”